Perhaps nobody ever accomplishes all that he feels lies in him to do but nearly every one who tries his power touches the walls of his being occasionally, and learns about how far to attempt to spring.
—Charles Dudley Warner (1829–1900) American Essayist, Novelist
Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins. Which of the two has the grander view?
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
It is not a dreamlike state, but the somehow insulated state, that a great musician achieves in a great performance. He’s aware of where he is and what he’s doing, but his mind is on the playing of his instrument with an internal sense of rightness — it is not merely mechanical, it is not only spiritual; it is something of both, on a different plane and a more remote one.
—Arnold Palmer (b.1929) American Sportsperson
My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.
—Oprah Winfrey (b.1954) American TV Personality
Rich people see opportunities. Poor people see obstacles. Rich people see potential growth. Poor people see potential loss. Rich people focus on rewards. Poor focus on the risks.
—T. Harv Eker (b.1954) American Motivational Speaker, Lecturer, Author
Focus on your potential instead of your limitations.
—Joe DiMaggio (1914–99) American Baseball Player
Most people live, whether physically, intellectually or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness, and of their soul’s resources in general, much like a man who, out of his whole bodily organism, should get into a habit of using and moving only his little finger. Great emergencies and crises show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
Only the person of worth can recognize the worth in others.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
We never know how high we are till we are called to rise. And then, if we are true to plan, our statures touch the skies.
—Emily Dickinson (1830–86) American Poet
She didn’t know it couldn’t be done, so she went ahead and did it.
—Unknown
It is impossible to underrate human intelligence—beginning with one’s own.
—Henry Adams (1838-1918) American Historian, Man Of Letters
There are admirable potentialities in every human being. Believe in your strength and your youth. Learn to repeat endlessly to yourself, ‘It all depends on me’.
—Andre Gide (1869–1951) French Novelist
If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.
—Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American Inventor, Scientist, Entrepreneur
Today Americans are overcome not by the sense of endless possibility but by the banality of the social order they have erected against it.
—Christopher Lasch (1932–94) American Historian, Moralist, Social Critic
Once you eliminate the impossible,
whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.
—Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) Scottish Writer
Life is a video game. No matter how good you get, you are always zapped in the end.
—Anonymous
The only way to discover the limits of the possible
is to go beyond them to the impossible.
—Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008) British Scientist, Science-fiction Writer
I have always been driven to buck the system, to innovate, to take things beyond where they’ve been.
—Sam Walton (1918–92) American Entrepreneur, Businessperson
Your past is not your potential. In any hour you can choose to liberate the future.
—Marilyn Ferguson (1938–2008) American Author, Editor, Orator
When a man has put a limit on what he will do, he has put a limit on what he can do.
—Charles M. Schwab (1862–1939) American Businessperson
Our thoughts and imagination are the only real limits to our possibilities.
—Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American New Thought Writer, Physician, Entrepreneur
In the depth of winter I finally learned there was inside me an invincible summer.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
I’ve discovered I’ve got this preoccupation with ordinary people pursued by large forces.
—Steven Spielberg (b.1946) American Film Director, Screenwriter, Film Producer, Businessperson
We know what we are, but know not what we may be.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
There are no such things as incurable, there are only things for which man has not found a cure.
—Bernard M. Baruch (1870–1965) American Financier, Economic Consultant
Man’s main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality.
—Erich Fromm (1900–80) German-American Psychoanalyst, Social Philosopher
It’s the moment you think you can’t that you realize you can.
—Celine Dion (b.1968) Canadian Singer
Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!
—Anne Frank (1929–45) Holocaust Victim
O, do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men! Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks! Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle. But you shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at yourself, at the richness of life which has come to you by the grace of God.
—Phillips Brooks (1835–93) American Episcopal Clergyman, Author
Now intelligence seemed quantifiable. You could measure someone’s actual or potential height, and now, it seemed, you could also measure someone’s actual or potential intelligence. We had one dimension of mental ability along which we could array everyone… The whole concept has to be challenged; in fact, it has to be replaced.
—Howard Gardner (b.1943) American Cognitive Psychologist
I cannot discover that anyone knows enough to say definitely what is and what is not possible.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they’re yours.
—Richard Bach (b.1936) American Novelist, Aviator
Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.
—John Wooden (1910–2010) American Sportsperson
Look at things… as they can be.
—David J. Schwartz (1927–87) American Self-help Author
If I had some idea of a finish line, don’t you think I would have crossed it years ago?
—Richard DeVos (1926–2018) American Businessman, Philanthropist
We all have the extraordinary coded within us… waiting to be released.
—Jean Houston (b.1937) American New Thought Author, Speaker
Whatever your discipline, become a student of excellence in all things. Take every opportunity to observe people who manifest the qualities of mastery. These models of excellence will inspire you and guide you toward the fulfillment of your highest potential.
—Tony Buzan (1942–2019) British Writer, Educational Consultant
There is no man living who isn’t capable of doing more than he thinks he can do.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
It is our duty as men and women to proceed as though the limits of our abilities do not exist.
—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955) French Jesuit Philosopher, Paleontologist
I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can’t be done. If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
And what is the potential man, after all? Is he not the sum of all that is human? Divine, in other words?
—Henry Miller (1891–1980) American Novelist
Life has no limitations, except the ones you make.
—Les Brown qqq
Be brave enough to live creatively. The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can’t get there by bus, only by hard work, risking, and by not quite knowing what you’re doing. What you’ll discover will be wonderful: yourself.
—Alan Alda (b.1936) American Actor, TV Personality, Screenwriter
I believe that every human being is potentially capable within his ‘limits’ of fully ‘realizing’ his potentialities; that this, his being cheated and choked of it, is infinitely the ghastliest, commonest, and most inclusive of all the crimes of which the human world can assure itself.
—James Agee (1909–55) American Journalist, Poet, Screenwriter, Film Critic
One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.
—Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American Poet
If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few.
—Shunryu Suzuki (1904–71) Zen Buddhist Monk, Author
We all have possibilities we don’t know about. We can do things we don’t even dream we can do.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
Life is too short for theatrics, for face time, for jumping through hoops, for excuses, for blaming, for trying too hard to please others, or for chasing society’s illusion of distant riches or fame.
—Robert Cooper (b.1947) British Diplomat
Contrary to what most of us believe, happiness does not simply happen to us. It’s something that we make happen, and it results from doing our best. Feeling fulfilled when we live up to our potentialities is what motivates differentiation and leads to evolution.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (b.1934) Hungarian-American Psychologist
One’s prime is elusive. You little girls, when you grow up, must be on the alert to recognize your prime at whatever time of your life it may occur. You must then live it to the full.
—Muriel Spark (1918–2006) Scottish Novelist, Short-story Writer, Poet
The riches of life, the love and joy and exhilaration of life can be found only with an upward look. This is an exciting world. It’s cram-packed with opportunity. Great moments wait around every corner.
—Richard DeVos (1926–2018) American Businessman, Philanthropist
Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you’ll be able to see farther.
—J. P. Morgan (1837–1913) American Financier, Philanthropist, Art Collector